Cheese

According to legend, a great chef in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Antonio Carbonada, had an Argentine lady as a regular customer. One day she asked for her favorite sandwich made with goat (chivito in Spanish). There was no goat to be had, so the chef threw together what was on hand—steak, ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise—and the chivito was born. It is now found everywhere in Uruguay. As with most traditional comfort food, everybody makes their chivito just a little differently. Here's mine.

These "gnocchi" are more like baked polenta cutouts. For a pretty presentation, cut the gnocchi with a three-inch-square scalloped cookie cutter.

These deep-fried rice balls hail from Sicily. Arancine are often made with leftover risotto, but this recipe calls for freshly made risotto. A piece of cheese is tucked into the rice mixture, then the rice balls are breaded and fried until golden.

A lovely combination of contrasting tastes: bitter greens, salty-smoky bacon, tangy goat cheese, and sweet shallots.

You'll have enough tomato spread for leftovers.

Ted Reader likes to marinate the roast in a coffee porter (a dark beer that's flavored with coffee or with dark malts and highly roasted barley) or a similar beer with body, such as Guinness or a honey brown lager. What to drink: Wyndham Estate 2003 Shiraz, Bin 555, South Eastern Australia ($10).

Crisp, fragile, practically see-through—no, the subject here isn't a character out of The Devil Wears Prada, but something just as, well, delicious: quite possibly the world's best cheese wafers. Best of all, they couldn't be any simpler to make.

Pile a few choice toppings on store-bought pizza crust and throw it on the grill for a magnificent—and easy—vegetarian dinner for a crowd.

This sandwich gets a toasty power-up from your grill pan. Melted mozzarella bolsters chicken cutlets, and its gooey richness is offset by the fiery spark of cherry peppers. A tomato-basil salad rounds out the meal.

What's integral here is a very thin biscuit crust instead of one made of pastry dough. The inspiration is twofold: the tomato pie brought to us in August 1992 by the late novelist and food writer Laurie Colwin and James Beard's recipe for a quiche-like tomato cheese pie, which appeared in his American Cookery (1972). It's fun to imagine inviting the pair of them for lunch and serving this, along with a crunchy green salad and a big, beautiful glass pitcher of iced tea.

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, who created this menu, takes the Mexican tradition of sprinkling corn on the cob with cotija cheese and dried chile and turns it on its head. By substituting crumbled feta and mint, she gives the summer standby a Mediterranean slant. Cutting the ears into smaller sections makes them easier to coat with the buttery cheese and herb mixture—and way more fun to eat.

Any excuse to cook a pork chop is a good excuse, and here is one of Italian origin: You get to stuff it with prosciutto, not to mention buttery Fontina and aromatic sage.

Lobes of golden mushrooms, shreds of buttery Gouda cheese, and the heartiness of spicy greens come together in this substantial salad. It's a terrific companion to the chive shortcakes, stew, and baked tomatoes, but keep it in mind when all you're after is a soup-and-salad supper.

Smoky grilled vegetables—not a cloying amount of meat or cheese—rule here. Instead of embellishing the enchiladas with a complex (and time-consuming) Mexican pipián (pumpkin-seed sauce), cook a few customary pipián ingredients and then purée them with cilantro for an easy enchilada that's herbaceous and fresh.

Chile "poppers"—just pop 'em in your mouth—are on many restaurant menus, and they're easy to prepare in your own backyard. They need to smoke at a higher temperature so the bacon wrapped around the outside of the chile gets cooked through. Although higher-heat smoking is technically not considered low-and-slow traditional barbecue, it does have its place in recipes like this one (and for people who use a ceramic smoker, which automatically smokes at a higher temperature). At a lower temperature, the bacon won't crisp up. You can also use this technique to smoke other bacon-wrapped appetizers like shrimp, water chestnuts, or green bean bundles. If you like, substitute goat cheese, garlic-and-herb cream cheese, or even pimiento cheese spread for the cream cheese and cheddar. You can also use almonds or walnuts instead of the pecans, or omit the nuts. These poppers are so addictive that you can make a meal out of them! They are slightly fiery, but even friends who describe themselves as heat-intolerant have devoured these and raved about them. Jalapeños of any size will do, but the bigger ones hold more flavor and are easier to fill with cheese. I use a swivel-blade potato peeler or a paring knife to core the peppers. And remember to wear disposable food-handing gloves when touching fresh jalapeños, because oil from hot chiles will stick to your heands. If you rub your eyes or other sensitive areas after working with the chiles, it can be painful. If the chiles are mild, however, gloves aren't necessary. You can buy metal chile popper racks, but you can also use cardboard egg carton. At 350°F, the carton won't burn and you can simply throw it away when you're done. Another big plus to using an egg carton is that the carton absorbs bacon fat. This means no grease flare-ups. You can enhance the hickory or maple wood smoke flavor in the bacon by using that type of wood for your fire, or you can add a little different flavor to your poppers by using apple, oak, or pecan. Suggested wood: Hickory or maple

Even folks in the South, where pimiento cheese is lovingly called the "pâté of the South," will give you a quizzical look when you mention this burger. I always thought its true home was around Columbia, South Carolina, and the lower upstate area. But then I saw a pimiento cheeseburger on the menu in a wonderful burger joint and restaurant called Litton's, in Knoxville, Tennessee, so I guess a good idea can cross state lines. So here's how to do it, complete with a little pimiento cheese recipe, but the burger's not bad even if you have to use a good-quality store-bought pimiento cheese.